MOSCOW, June 16. /TASS/. A Russian national has been detained in the Kherson Region for planning a terrorist attack against government officials on Kiev’s orders, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement.

"The Federal Security Service in the Kherson Region has intercepted the illegal activities of a Russian national born in 1974, who was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence agencies to carry out a terrorist attack on regional government officials," the statement reads.

According to the FSB, the suspect, acting upon instructions from and in coordination with a Ukrainian intelligence officer, retrieved an improvised explosive device out of a cache to blow up the car of a member of the Kherson regional administration. "The perpetrator was detained while trying to execute his criminal plan; 1.25 kg of foreign-made explosive C-4, an electric detonator and a programmable control unit were seized from him," the FSB added.

The suspect has confessed. The FSB investigation department in the Kherson Region launched criminal investigations under Russian Criminal Code Article 30.3, paragraph (a) of Article 205.2 ("Attempted Act of Terrorism") and Article 222.1.3 ("Illegal Acquisition, Handover, Sale, Storage, Transfer and Possession of Explosives and Explosive Devices"). The articles provide for a punishment of up to life in prison.

Efforts are underway to identify those who aided the suspect in his illegal activities.